1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of signature verification with respect to on-line electronic commerce transactions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for providing signature verification using a paperless electronic document transaction platform.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Processing and closing certain paper based transactions such as a mortgage or a loan application is a well-known but complex process that involves many separate entities, diverse parties and involves multiple documents to consummate the transaction. Likewise, preparing, transferring and delivering the paper documents for signature on such document-laden transactions remains an expensive, slow, paper-based, offline process. The problems of excess documents and lapses in time time are compounded by the fact that the parties to such type transactions are typically numerous and geographically dispersed. Therefore, such type transactions incur considerable amounts of time and money to transport the necessary documents between the geographically dispersed parties. Sometimes, the diverse locations can be as far as cross-country or international. If changes are made to the documents at hand, more time and money are lost while the documents are shipped back and forth for review by the signatories. Upon completion of the documents, the signatories must then sign the documents to such type transactions in front of a notary public to ensure legal enforceability of the transaction.
Additionally, such type transactions have been largely unable to take advantage of on-line electronic commerce because of the preemptive legal/business practice requirement that a notary public authenticate the signature to bind the transaction. To date, there exists no integrated solution whereby these types of transactions can be conducted on-line using a paperless document platform that encompasses the necessary component of signature verification to conclude the transaction. Although an increasing number of such type transactions may be initiated online, they are invariably consummated off-line due to the inability to integrate the parties. Further, there exists no method of on-line notarization that meets the expectations or standards of a duly notarized signature done by a licensed notary public. Moreover, there exists no integrated process or method that integrates the parties and entities to such transactions on-line using a paperless transaction device that is accesssible by all of the parties to the transaction, including a notary public.
Nonetheless, there exists a real need to redress the problems addressing such type transactions. Although there exist solutions that claim to provide on-line “notarized” signature verification, such solutions do not comply with the standards and processes of a duly notarized signature. Notarization, legally and traditionally, requires an independent, in-person verification of the identity and signature using a live commissioned notary public who affixes a notary seal and jurat as a means of authentication. Existing products and solutions that state to be electronic “notaries” are not notarizations in the traditional sense of the word. Existing products and solutions typically use code-based digital certificates issued by a licensed certification authority as a means to verify a signature. Digital certificates are a function public key cryptography whereby a person's signature is converted to a digital code. Such processes operate so that a person's identity is verified a single time when the digital certificate is issued by the issuing authority. The applicant subsequently uses the code associated with the digital certificate each time his or her signature is required. The end result being that a signatory may use the digital certificate to unilaterally affix a “notarized” signature to an electronic document, when in fact a notary is not present, nor has a notary verified the identity of the signatory. The problem associated with public key cryptography methods is that while the certification authority is capable of issuing a certificate that correspond to an applicant, it is unable to verify the identity of the person who is signing the electronic document at the time the digital certificate is used. The inability of public key cryptography to guarantee a person's identity, has precluded such type transactions from effectively electronic based commerce to conclude such transactions.
The prior art reveals the following six (6) prior art patents are found to be related to the field of signature verification although none of them provide an integrated approach to signature verification using a paperless electronic document platform.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,685 issued to Berson et al. on Apr. 21, 1998 for “Method For Verifying An Identification Card And Recording Verification Of Same” (hereafter the “Berson Patent”). The Berson Patent discloses a method for verifying an identification card and recording verification of the same. The identification card includes information on a first portion of the card, the information including personal information relating to the person to be identified, and an encrypted representation of at least part of the information on a second portion of the card, the part including the personal information. The encrypted information can be read from the card and then decrypted to obtain a decrypted representation. The card is then verified by comparing the decrypted representation of the information with the information on the first portion of the card and the personal information is stored as at least part of a record of the verification transaction. The Berson Patent further discloses a record system which includes a source identification such as a machine number and a secure tamper proof clock.
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,974 issued to Holloway et al. on Jun. 15, 1999 for “Apparatus And Method For Authentication Of Printed Documents” (hereafter the “Holloway Patent”). The Holloway Patent discloses an apparatus and method for authentication of printed documents. The printed documents are scanned and digitized using a conventional scanner. The scanned and digitized document contents are edited before being used to generate a digital signature. This allows reading errors which could invalidate a subsequent verification process to be corrected. Using the editor and an input device, the signing authority identifies on the screen different segments of the document. Each segment contains data of a single type and selects a set of rules, among a group proposed by the system, for authenticating the document. Then, for each segment, an edited digital form of the data contents is derived using the method defined in the rules. A hash value of the rules used and the edited digital form of the segment contents is calculated using a public hashing algorithm. Then the apparatus generates a digital signature of the edited digitized segment contents using the secret key of the authenticator. Finally, an authentication code comprising the edited digital form of each segment and the digital signature is printed on the document. To verify the authenticity, the printed document is scanned and digitized again and the digital signature is checked by using the associated public key. If the check fails, the verifier identifies which segment has been scanned differently, comparing it with the related edited digital form in the authentication code printed on the document to evaluate its validity.
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,848 issued to Romney, et al. on Feb. 16, 1999 entitled, “Method and apparatus for witnessed authentication of electronic documents.” The Romney patent consists of a method and apparatus for authenticating an electronic document using an electronic document authenticator. An electronic document authenticator is an individual or enterprise that has been authorized by the inventor witness a digital signature. The Romney patent does not use a licensed notary public nor does the Romney patent perform a method of notarization. Rather, the Romney patent is a form of public key encryption verification whereby the customer enters a digital code, presumed to be the equivalent of his or her written signature, in the presence of the authenticator. The authenticator verifies the digital certificate belongs to the customer that used it by using a corresponding public key provided by the same customer. The Romney patent essentially ascertains that the public key supplied to the authenticator by the customer matches the private key used by the customer to produce the digital signature. The Romney patent fundamentally is a solution to deal with one of the most common problems associated with public key cryptography: identity theft. It is not a form of a method of traditional notarization. The Romney patent is premised on the issuance of digital certificates to be used by all parties, including the authenticator, to attest to the veracity of a document, as opposed to the authenticity of an identity and corresponding signature, per the method of a traditional notarization performed by a licensed notary public.
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,551 issued to Dwork et al. on Jul. 20, 1999 for “System And Method For Certifying Content Of Hard-Copy Documents” (hereafter the “Dwork Patent”). The Dwork Patent discloses a system and method for certifying content of hard-copy documents. A digital representation of the data object is produced, typically, for hard-copy documents to produce a two dimensional bit map. Then, a signature for the digital representation is obtained from a certifying agent. The signature is produced as a function of the digital representation of the data object, so as to reflect the content of the data object. This will commonly be performed by a certifying agent, such as a post office clerk or a notary public. As a result, a representation of the signature, along with the data object is provided. Accordingly, it is established that the signature authenticates the content of the data object.
5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,187 issued to Berke on Aug. 17, 1999 for “Method For Certifying Facsimile Communication Over A Telephone Network” (hereafter the “Berke Patent”). The Berke Patent discloses a method for certifying facsimile communications over a telephone network. The method includes a registration sequence during which an originator of facsimile messages establishes an account with the certifying system by providing a handwritten signature and identifying data. The handwritten signature is linked to the identifying data, and the identifying data is utilized through the method in an effort to insure the authenticity of facsimile messages certified by the certifying system.
6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,731 issued to Schwab on Oct. 26, 1999 for “Secure Identification System” (hereafter the “Schwab Patent”). The Schwab Patent discloses a secure identification system for providing a secure interactive communication of text and image information between a central server computer and one or more client computers, located at remote sites for the purpose of storing and retrieving files describing and identifying unique products, services or individuals.
A major problem to conducting electronic commerce that requires signature verification, is that to date there exists no method whereby electronic documents can be electronically notarized using the traditional and legally binding method by a live, licensed notary public.
A major problem to conducting electronic commerce, is that to date there exists no method whereby electronic documents are integrated and managed using a paperless document platform that eliminates the need to physically transport documents to be signed and notarized.
It is desirable to provide a new method and system for providing signature verification with the capability of signing and notarizing electronic documents at remote locations without the need to physically transport the hard copies of such documents to the remote locations to be signed by the signatories and notarized by a notary public. While the devices created by the prior art may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for signature verification for electronic commerce transactions that typically require the traditional form and security of an in-person notarization.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known prior art, the present invention provides a new method for providing and performing notary services on-line with the capability of electronically transporting, signing and notarizing the electronic documents. In this respect, the method of signature verification with the capability of electronically transporting, signing and notarizing the electronic document according to the present invention, substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of performing notary services via the Internet with the capability of electronically signing and notarizing the electronic document at a remote location. Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings.